


The Title of Cavalier

by Samuraiter



Category: Dungeons and Dragons (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-19
Updated: 2014-04-19
Packaged: 2018-01-19 23:09:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1487545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Samuraiter/pseuds/Samuraiter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Things have changed a little for Eric after several years in the Realm. Or is it Eric himself who has changed? Perhaps Sheila knows the answer to that?</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Title of Cavalier

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DesertVixen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DesertVixen/gifts).



Presto had been the one to invent a calendar incorporating everything that the adventurers had come to understand about the Realm, and he had determined that it had a year not unlike that of Earth, though there seemed to be a disconnect between the passage of time in one place versus the passage of time in the other – that is, it seemed that they could spend as long as they all wished in the Realm, and almost no time could pass on Earth. If necessary, they could spend their entire lives there, only to return to Earth and go back to being the children they had been upon their departure.

At least, that had been the theory according to Presto. Eric had learned not to automatically put him down for any of his ideas, but that did not stop him from having his doubts. By his reckoning, after learning to read the movements of the stars, they had been in the Realm for about five years, and they had all changed to reflect that. And those five years had been busy. Restoring balance to the Realm and fulfilling the prophecy of the Dungeon Master had been a start, but, after that, there always seemed to be one more thing to fix, one more task to undertake, one more person to save.

Once upon a time, Eric been the most vocal member of the party when it came to the subject of going home, but ... that, too, had changed. Little by little, his resentment of the Realm and all of its inconveniences had faded, and, after the defeat of Venger, he had started to realize the importance of his title. _Cavalier_. As in a knight. As in a defender. His shield granted him invincibility. Before, he had used it to protect only himself, but he had learned to use it for his friends, too, and for all the people of the Realm. The title of Cavalier had gone from being lame to being a part of him.

Before, the people of the Realm had come to Hank, but they had started coming to Eric, too, and that was why he found himself in a forest in the middle of the night. No idea which forest, since Presto had yet to complete his map of the world, but it had Orcs in it, enough of them to threaten several of the nearby villages, and their elders, upon hearing that the adventurers might be passing through the region, found him exploring a set of ruins on the outskirts, him and Sheila. Naturally, neither of the heroes could refuse a chance to push another band of Orcs back into the shadows.

_Sheila_. She had used her cloak to disappear into the trees and track several of the Orcs down one of the animal trails she had discovered earlier in the day, leaving Eric alone with his thoughts. _Yeah, about the whole Sheila thing_. The party had always taken the Sheila-Hank business for granted. Eric had always found it irritating, but ... at one point or another, it had stopped being irritating. And Sheila had stopped accompanying Hank all the time. Come to think of it, she had volunteered to go with Eric on this whole expedition into the forest. Volunteered. As in did not have to be told to go with him.

And ... Sheila had, at one point, stopped being a kid. He had turned nineteen, she had turned eighteen. _Yeah, about the whole eighteen thing_. Not that had not noticed her before, but he had issues _not_ noticing her now. And she had saved him more than once, both before and after he had mastered his abilities. Presto might have been the brains of their operation, at least in theory, but Sheila managed to do all the smart stuff on her feet. Odds had it that she was getting the Orcs lost in their own forest, in fact. Or leading them right to Eric, so that he could frighten them off with his shield.

He thought he heard a giggle. Hard to tell how far off it was. Sounded familiar, but he had learned to second-guess himself. Creatures like Sirens could mimic voices, and then use those voices to learn a poor dupe like him into a trap. (Goodness knows _that_ had happened about a million times.) He listened again. Another giggle, a little closer. Maybe a rustle of foliage, too, but any number of creatures could do that to get his attention, keep his eyes off any part of his surroundings they did not want him checking too closely. Almost unconsciously, he raised his shield, ready to trigger it.

A voice, then. "Don't worry, they're gone." Sheila, but she did not take down her hood and reveal herself. And he could not tell the direction from which she was speaking. "I think they heard the rumors about all of us being here and thought better of it. Can't blame them." Silence. Where did she go? "We'll have to go meet up with the others again soon." Much closer, that time, and much quieter. And there was something in her tone that Eric did not quite recognize. Sorrow? No, he had heard that in her voice before. It was a little different. Another giggle, right next to his ear, it seemed.

"Hey, Eric." Almost a whisper. "Come here. Just for a second." He turned his head, and, as soon as he opened his mouth to talk to her, _lips_ – a little cold, thanks to the night, but definitely lips, and definitely hers. Unconsciously, he embraced, feeling her warmth, the texture of her cloak, though it was little strange, considering that his eyes were telling him that he was looking straight through empty space, holding nothing. To anybody who might happen upon them, it might look like he was making out with the air. For the old Eric, freshly arrived in the Realm, that might have been a little embarrassing.

For this Eric, the Cavalier, it was just a reminder of how he had grown up as a person.

**END**.


End file.
